CELEBRATION OF THE INDEPENDENCE DAY OF INDIA 2016

On August 15, the exhibition hall of the Espai Cimen of Barcelona hosted the celebration of the 69th Anniversary of Independence Day in India, organized by the Indian Culture Center, with the collaboration of Catalunyaar, Punjabi Virsa, Gurudwara Nanaksar de l’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Bollywood Restaurant of Barcelona, Secretariat of Equality, Migration and Citizenship of the Government of Catalonia and Barcelona City Council.

The event, presented by Pavel Pratyúsh, began with the interpretation of the national anthem, in which numerous participants attended, and the reading of a summary of the speech of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Then magic, joy and color filled the stage with the dance group Magical Bollywood, directed by Monica Arjona, and the bhangra dance group Din Tak, directed by Lally Powar.

Among the dance performances, we were able to enjoy poetry with Dr. Shafqat Ali Khan, poetry in Catalan and Hindi with Anuja and Sagar Trivedi and Maica Duaigües and songs by Punit Gupta, Shreevats Venkateshwaran Shankar and Davinder Laddy. As guests of honor,

Mr. Oriol Amorós, Secretary of Equality, Migration and Citizenship of the Government of Catalonia. Mr. Alfred Bosch, president of the municipal group of ERC to the City council of Barcelona. Mr. Ernesto Carrión, adviser of the Department of Social Welfare of the Municipality of l’Hospitalet de Llobregat. Mr. Sukhwinder Singh and Mr. Paramjit Singh Kalra, president and secretary respectively of the Punjabi Virsa association. Mr. Josep María Llagostera, advisor of the Badalona City Council, Mr. Jahiro Silva, secretary of the Federation of Colombians of Catalonia and Ms. Tatiana Domínguez, president of the Implicat Association and representative of the Fundación Nuevos Catalanes.

After presenting the thanks giving gifts to the different participants and a few words of congratulations from the guests of honor, the event ended with a small party with typical Indian sweets and samosas. Numerous families, both Indian and Catalan, have enjoyed this great celebration of Independence Day of India.